Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

24/10.
A couple of hours. The chickens are still cautious about how far from cover they venture I assume due to the attack on the geese. They seem to be following the activity patterns I observed watching the tribes in Catalonia more closely the more freedom they get. The first couple of hours in the morning and the last couple of hours in the evening are peak foraging times. At times of predator activty the usual is to stay under cover particulalry in the late afternoon and forage quickly for their late evening feed.
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I too have observed the pattern of early morning and last thing in evening foraging. But it puzzles me, because for predators like foxes, those are also peak times.
I was devastated when I lost my first chicken to a fox and an elderly guy who happened to see the fox running past him in the woods with the chicken came and explained to me that I should lock my chickens up before dusk because dusk was peak fox snatching time.
Because it also happens to be peak chicken foraging time, whenever I can, I sit outside at dusk to guard them until they go in. I don't manage that every day by any means, but it is noticeable how active they are digging stuff up and eating in the last 30 mins of daylight.

 

[Perris]

My grandparents had a far from ideal diet

Their diet is not the same as what they would recognize as food.

Our grandparents were also dealing with rationing and all the shortages and hacks that came with it. Turned out a lot of them were healthier than we are.

 

[Shadrach]

I too have observed the pattern of early morning and last thing in evening foraging. But it puzzles me, because for predators like foxes, those are also peak times.
I was devastated when I lost my first chicken to a fox and an elderly guy who happened to see the fox running past him in the woods with the chicken came and explained to me that I should lock my chickens up before dusk because dusk was peak fox snatching time.
Because it also happens to be peak chicken foraging time, whenever I can, I sit outside at dusk to guard them until they go in. I don't manage that every day by any means, but it is noticeable how active they are digging stuff up and eating in the last 30 mins of daylight.

It's interesting isn't it. Here at the field predators have changed their habits mainly due to human impact on their environment. I see foxes during daylight hours quite a lot at the field. They are not in hunting mode from what I've seen. The dogs are more interested in courting the vixens or finding new homes from what I can see. They've passed by chickens a couple of metres away.
In Catalonia the chickens caution was to avoid being seen by ariel predators. The Goshawk which was the main ariel predator was rarely seen after the sun reached a particular angle in the sky. Sun position makes a lot of difference to both prey and predators eyesight.

 

[Perris]

Sun position makes a lot of difference to both prey and predators eyesight.

and keepers'. Apparently chickens see differently / better than we do. I find it very hard to imagine a different way of seeing.

 

[Shadrach]

and keepers'. Apparently chickens see differently / better than we do. I find it very hard to imagine a different way of seeing.

One obvious disadvantage for ariel predators and perhaps ground as well is when the sun is at a particular angle (after dawn and before dusk) the predators approach path with clear vison is restricted by 180 degrees. The sun at these angles also throws odd shadows.
Not sure if chickens see better than we do. Binoclular vision has both advantages and disadvantages. Chickens can see more in the upper frequencies than we do but when it comes to range and location they need to turn their heads and take repeated measurements to track objects.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

It's what nature selects and the speed with which all those carefully breeder selected attributes fall away that I find interesting. The hybrids in Catalonia (Marans and mainly Old English game) looked very similar to the field hybrids in a couple of generations free breeding.

During my undergraduate degree, I studied colonial art in Oceania, which evolved into a focus on dogs in Gauguin's paintings.

His Tahitian dogs tended to be the same body style: mid-sized, slender, short-haired, with semi-erect ears and almond eyes, brown or black in color.

I remember unearthing several journal articles deep in the library regarding the natural progression of mixed-breed dogs to return to the body type painted by Gauguin. If you've gone to a shelter to adopt a dog, or been places with unchecked populations of stray dogs, you've seen plenty like it.

Arearea, 1892

Given more time to shed traits provided by colonists' European breeds, there is a theory that dogs eventually shift towards prick ears, mid-length hair, a curlier tail set, like a coyote/Carolina dog/basenji/dingo/New Guinea singing dog/Telomian/Norwegian Lundehund...pick your continent. Besides physical traits, they bark less and only go into heat once a year.

This Wikipedia article on the Indian pariah dog covers some of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_pariah_dog

Anyway, not chickens but seemed relevant. I'll dig up some tax shortly.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I too have observed the pattern of early morning and last thing in evening foraging. But it puzzles me, because for predators like foxes, those are also peak times.
I was devastated when I lost my first chicken to a fox and an elderly guy who happened to see the fox running past him in the woods with the chicken came and explained to me that I should lock my chickens up before dusk because dusk was peak fox snatching time.
Because it also happens to be peak chicken foraging time, whenever I can, I sit outside at dusk to guard them until they go in. I don't manage that every day by any means, but it is noticeable how active they are digging stuff up and eating in the last 30 mins of daylight.

My first experience with a fox, a year ago, was in the middle of the day. I heard a ruckus just outside my door and went to investigate. There was a fox right on top of one of my ducks! I chased it away and no one was hurt, not even the victim. Took me a while to gather them all back up as they were understandably frazzled. It must have been a very young fox.

Just a few days later, I was letting them out of their pen to forage in the morning, and I assume it was the same fox waited until they were all out then jumped out of the tall grass RIGHT NEXT TO ME and grabbed one of the juveniles! It ran back to the forest and I chased it (screaming obscenities) hoping it would drop the duck but no such luck.

I'm terrified of letting them out now.

tax:

Found the hidden broodie!

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Tea is ready.

Temperature is in the 70s sunny with humidity 70%.

Have a great day!

 

[Perris]

My first experience with a fox, a year ago, was in the middle of the day. I heard a ruckus just outside my door and went to investigate. There was a fox right on top of one of my ducks! I chased it away and no one was hurt, not even the victim. Took me a while to gather them all back up as they were understandably frazzled. It must have been a very young fox.

Just a few days later, I was letting them out of their pen to forage in the morning, and I assume it was the same fox waited until they were all out then jumped out of the tall grass RIGHT NEXT TO ME and grabbed one of the juveniles! It ran back to the forest and I chased it (screaming obscenities) hoping it would drop the duck but no such luck.

I'm terrified of letting them out now.

tax: View attachment 3972450

Found the hidden broodie!

I'm a bit confused; is/was that broody hidden within your pen, or do you let them out even though you fear the fox?

 

[Canadian Wind]

I'm a bit confused; is/was that broody hidden within your pen, or do you let them out even though you fear the fox?

This was last August, before the fox. Once I found where she was brooding, she let me place her in a rabbit cage with her eggs and every one of them hatched! She's a good Momma!